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word. >> there is a significant agreement on this important -- so much larger than just ukraine. it's about freedom and democracy -- >> president biden gets tonight 's last word from kyiv. the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle starts now.

>> tonight, president biden's surprise visit to ukraine, meeting with president zelenskyy while announcing more military aid. what this historic trip means for the future of the war. meanwhile, some far-right republicans criticize the presidents trip to ukraine. what we are hearing from a small but loud minority. then, ron desantis visits new york city to talk policing and crime. is this the unofficial start to a presidential run? as the 11th hour gets underway on this monday night. >> greetings, i'm simone sanders-townsend, in for stephanie ruhle. president biden makes a historic top secret trip to ukraine, as russia's war there nears the one year mark. the presidents trip included a ten hour train ride from the polish border into kyiv. now, this is biden's first visit to ukraine since the war began, and it's the first from a modern-day president to an

active war zone with no u.s. military presence on the ground or the air. once in kyiv, biden announced another $500 million in military aid, and promised continued u.s. support. >> one year later, kyiv stands and ukraine stands. democracy stands. america stands with you and the world stands with you. russia's aim was to wipe ukraine off the map. putin's war conquest is failing. reminds us that freedom is priceless. it is worth fighting for, as long as it takes, and that's how long we are going to be with you, mister president. for as long as it takes. >> let's get more on biden's visit from nbc's kristen welker. >> the momentous day, starting with president zelenskyy and

the first lady of ukraine, greeting mr. biden. uniformed ukrainian military officers lining the streets, as the two presidents walked through the ukrainian capital, locked down for security. air raid sirens in the distance. then, this dramatic moment, laying a wreath at the wall of remembrance for fall and ukrainian soldiers. punctuated by a moment of silence. tonight, we are learning more about the risky operation that was months in the making. president biden, giving the final sign off on friday, and leaving in the predawn hours sunday. these newly-released images, showing him arriving in kyiv after a ten hour train trip across the ukraine border. the kremlin was notified hours in advance. all as russia has begun its major new offensive in the east. >> biden is now in warsaw, poland, where he will give a speech and he will be meeting with nato allies.

his remarks will come as russian leader, vladimir putin, it's set to give his statement at the nation address tomorrow in moscow. meanwhile, u.s. officials are closely watching the relationship between china and russia. there is growing concern from u.s. officials that china is considering giving russia lethal aid that could be used in ukraine. let's get right to msnbc chief correspondent, ali velshi. he's live in ukraine's capital of kyiv. ali, how have people in the capitol responded to president biden's visit? >> very warmly, simone. this was sort of a little extra push that they needed. there's certainly no doubt in ukraine, as i spoke to people a year ago and now, there is no doubt amongst ukrainian people that this war is being prosecuted with ukrainian determination, but with remarkable resolve and assistant weaponry, and training from the west, from america, from nato. but nobody takes that for granted, and the idea that in a particularly difficult week, that ukrainians are expecting what will be tough, that joe biden would come here.

that point you noted in the beginning that this is the first time a president has come to a war zone, in which there is no u.s. military presence. no active military presence on the ground. so, he was at the mercy of everybody else doing the right thing, including the russians taking that the conflicting message and not doing anything while biden was in town. remember, there were air raid sirens while he was here, so to see just over here, which is where the two presidents were, to see them walking down the street with air raid sirens, not missing a beat, i think sent a lot of resolve through the ukrainian people. we spoke to a few people today who did say that. they said, look, it's important to us to see joe biden here, to feel the resolve of the american people behind this war, it did mean something. >> ali, this trip came after months of planning. can you tell us how all of this actually unfolded? >> i mean, it's crazy. it not only reads like a thriller, how this actual trip was executed, but the idea that

it had various different groups involved from the pentagon, the white house, and the ukrainians, and it, a, didn't leak and, b, got carried out in a very, very difficult week is very something. this ten hour train ride, you know, you know as well anyone else, joe biden loves the train. but this was fraught with issues all the way through the ukrainian countryside, from poland, you know, through and passed lviv, into kyiv, and then being met at the train station here, brought into a city that was basically under lockdown. that hasn't even been the case in kyiv since the beginning of this war, so this was really, really a meticulous piece of planning that was undertaken, and of course, the president, you know, had the final sign of. but it was clear that even last year in poland, when joe biden was there, at the beginning of the war, he wanted to go into

ukraine, and the safety situation was such that it wasn't doable. so, they spent months and months planning on a trip that was doable, and it was achieved. the president now back in poland, in safety. but boy, that was a real chapter. if anybody hasn't read the pool reports on how this one down, it's worth a good read. >> i mean, absolutely and kudos to wall street journal sabrina city, who was the prime pool or on this trip. ali, friday will be the one you're russia invaded ukraine. are people bracing for moscow to intensify strikes later this week? what is the feeling on the ground there? >> well, two sorts of things going on. the fighting has intensified in the east, and that was to be expected because we're coming up to a year, and russia hasn't made territorial games since october. so, landry putin is going to make some kind of speech

tomorrow, and he would like to have something to show. it's not clear that that is going to be the case, but the sharp stick in the eye that joe biden coming to kyiv was to vladimir putin is something that is likely to provoke some sort of response from vladimir putin. so, even here in the cities, in kyiv, which is very far from the front, they are bracing for something to happen. remember, the other thing that vladimir putin does when he feels backed into a corner is he drops these references to nuclear weaponry, which we have not seen. but again, sometime tomorrow, we are going to get a speech from vladimir putin, which is going to be competing with the speech from joe biden, who's in warsaw. so, we're going to hear what's on the agenda for the rest of the week, but as far as ukrainians are concerned, they are expecting some sort of retaliation for what happened today. >> ali velshi, thank you for staying up late, and being up

early, my friend. appreciate you. but that with that, let's bring in our lead off panel. peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the new york times. he spent years as the moscow bureau chief for the washington post. closely watching the rise of vladimir putin. clint watson is here, he's a west point graduate, army veteran, former fbi special agent, and a distinguish research fellow at the foreign policy reaches the research institute. jeremy bash is also here, chief of staff at the cia, former cia, -- jimmy, you had the special privilege of being on set, so i will start with you. you have said that one of your takeaways from munich this weekend is that president biden is laser focused, for lack of a better term, of keeping the international pressure on putin. it seems to me that the physical manifestation of that was this trip that he took. >> yeah, this was a momentous weekend for diplomacy.

the president, vice president, secretary of state, all in europe. the president, taking a very risky and during trip over the border into ukraine, to stand shoulder to shoulder with zelenskyy. this was an unmistakable message, simone, that the president said by his physical presence, that the west is unified. and the united states is going to stand squarely behind ukraine. if anybody had doubt about the resolve of the west, president biden laid that arrest today. >> peter, i want to bring you in here because here is what president zelenskyy's former adviser said earlier about president biden's visit, as we near the one year mark of the war. >> originally, it was all going to be about russia. you know, president putin has set up all the theatrical. yet president biden kind of acted proactively, rather than reactive lee. he came to kyiv before putin -- said, like, look, we're here for the long run. ukraine will not lose. >> peter, what does this trip

mean, in terms of escalating tensions between biden and putin? >> well, i think ali velshi had it right. this is a sharp stick in the eye for vladimir putin. think about this. just a year ago at this time, if you would've asked adam putin which president was going to be in the capital of kyiv today, it wouldn't have been joe biden, right? he's not expecting for the americans to be so successful in arming and helping the ukrainians beat back their invasion. they expected to be in kyiv within days of their invasion on february 24th last year. instead, they're stuck and sort of a grinding war in the east, trying to hold on to the territory deval ready got, see if they can kind of turn the tables on the ukrainians, who have had the momentum now for several months. so, i think that president biden is sending a very unmistakable message. it is a stick in the eye for president putin. i think that's the way it's looked out in moscow. not just by president putin, but people around him. they have not said that to him. that's probably where they look

the way they look at it to. >> you know, peter, i have to wonder. president putin didn't know this visit was coming today, so i know that last year, when you had these remarks that we all saw, the video, they were pre-recorded. what do you think the odds are that the remarks that he's planning to give tomorrow we're already in the can and they now, in russia, they're recalibrating? >> that's a good question, actually. i think you're right, they do usually have to take the tape them in advance. he has a message he wants to get across and i don't know he's going to change it because of president biden, necessarily. his message is to a different audience. his messages to his own people, in effect. his message is, stay with me here, basically. in other words, he has been a tougher war than they've imagined. they don't like to use the word war, but this is another way of showing that the west is out to get us. you saw on russian television last night the way they spun this visit, is a way of justifying their war, by saying,

see, it's really not about ukraine. it's about the west and the west is out to get us. they call it nato's system, trying to merge nato and nazism there, make it as though we are the aggressors instead of them. it's a neat trick propaganda wise. i don't know how many people will it fool. it will fool lot of russians, i think, and that's what president putin means to do. >> clint, let's talk about where we are right now in this war. we talk about the number of casualties, millions of refugees have fleed the region. yet, vladimir putin continues to send more troops. -- but the offensive that we have expected to come is occurring, but i think the key point is that it's not going that well. they're bogged down, going through minefields. it's more dismounted and in terms of the armor formations, they just don't have the armor that they -- and they don't necessarily have those artillery shields that they once had. so, in terms of all supplies and all advances, the russians are pushing forward. but there are sustaining

intense casualties. they are not gaining that much ground. the question becomes, what is the ukrainian state of affairs? how long can they live on? what are their supplies and manpower like? >> hence why president zelenskyy continues to ask for more aid. jeremy, you are at the munich security conference. clint, you are also there. at that conference, it was where vice president, kamala harris, said this on saturday. >> the united states has formally determined that russia has committed crimes against humanity. and i say, to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors, who are implicit complicit in these crimes, you will be held to account. >> how important of a statement is that, jeremy? and frankly, how hard will it be to hold russia accountable? >> simone, i was there.

you could hear a pin drop when the vice president deliver that morally powerful and legally relevant statement. it was also important because she did it not only in front of all of the nato allies there in the heart of europe, but she did so in germany. we were just there a couple of miles south of nuremberg, where, of course, the united states and other international community members had to try the perpetrators of genocide, after world war ii. and so, for the vice president to make that statement, pointing the finger directly at vladimir putin, pointing the finger directly at the russian federation saying, you will be held accountable for these atrocities, that really resonates not just in that room, but around the world. >> you know, clint, i have to wonder though, how?

because they think that there is a lot of conversation, and i vehemently remember when president biden, they said he was a freudian, it was a slip of the tongue. they said all, we have to take flattery putting out at a press conference last year. and the white house walked that back. but i think there are people that are wondering, how does this and? how is russia held accountable? >> yeah, it's interesting today to watch it, simone, and the russian media's face, quite shocked about president biden stepping foot inside ukraine. there's a very visceral reaction and i think it's going to be interesting to watch how it plays out the next couple of days. and that really begs the question of, does that send a signal about russian resolve? if this offensive that they're launching here in the coming weeks doesn't go out well. i think the big, big picture is, one, we have iran already --

arsenal with russia, in terms of weapons, in terms of drones. now we are looking at possibly china, this is the other big revelation from the munich security conference, china may be coming into the poll to support russia. this would give them that ammunition, armor, and that backbone, those supplies. compare that to ukraine, this could become a long, long, drawn out conflict. very little ground changing hands, but massive casualties, lots of artillery fire. the question becomes, how long, then, can ukraine indoor? remember, they've been under constant -- for a year, they've done an amazing job. the resolve has been incredible. but do they really have the ability to do any sort of a counteroffensive? so, looking into maybe summer heading into next fall, we could be talking about another winter warfare. without -- being traded back and forth by either side in this conflict. >> peter, i am very interested in just how the white house is able to keep this trip under wraps in the first place. i used to work at this

particular white house, and with these folks, and i know it's not always easy. so what can you tell us about that? >> they did of course take it very seriously. they kept a close, not just among their own people, but obviously among reporters as well. to reporters were selected for this super small pool were brought in on friday and told that this is going to happen, sworn to secrecy. they were told the schedule would be ascend under the subject line, something to the effect, up here is the instructions for the golf tierney. and when they -- their phones were taken away and not giving back something like 24 hours later. so they kept the reporters under wrap, it was a smaller pool than we normally get. we usually get larger polls in iraq and afghanistan. but they decided to keep it very, very tight. and there's understanding that this is a dangerous thing and have to be careful with this kind of information. nobody wants to put the president in harm's way. obviously. i think one thing they did different was on the front end of the trip. normally the circuits drops come on the back end of a trip, and they we're gonna wait to see if he would come around -- he got ahead of everyone, a little surprise move there i think. but the important part they did was they did tell the russians. a few hours in advance, tell russians just so that there was no misunderstanding. so the russians would not do something stupid or accidental that would cause a great

escalation. of course, russians aren't so foolish that they would think that doing something to put president biden in harm's way would make sense for them. but they don't necessarily control everybody there who was operating on their behalf. and that's the thing that was made very dangerous. something like putting the train -- the president on the train for ten hours is unheard of. >> absolutely. as we have this conversation, and clint mentioned it, jeremy, this possibility that china could be supplying the lethal aid to russia seems as peter just noted, some lines between the united states and russia are open, hence how the u.s. notified rush of the trip. how concerned should we be about the potential legal aid to russia? what are the consequences on the table if in fact that is what is happening? >> very concerned, i think this was a very deft and savvy move by secretary of state tony blinken, his chinese counterpart in munich with the allegations. the meeting was extensively about a dialogue following up from the chinese surveillance balloon, simone. but the secretary of state laid the details on the table, i think we'll see in the coming days sensitive, perhaps until reporting showing exactly with the chinese were doing, providing russians to the -- caught the chinese off-guard. the chinese were robbed back on their heels.

so they're gonna have to backpedal and explain how they got caught, potentially trying to aid russia in this horrible war effort. >> more questions, we will get some additional answers. peter baker, clint watts, and jeremy bash, thank you very very much. all right, you. all coming up, some republicans are not happy about the presidents wartime visit to -- >> more questions, we will get

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back at president biden's wartime trip to ukraine. arizona congressman andy biggs wrote to the president on twitter, quote, you should be standing with east palestine, an american town in your own country that needs your help. and from florida, matt gates, said this on presidents'day, i'm not surprised that biden is ditching america for ukraine. he ditched america's interest since the start of his presidency. they can keep him. this comes amid questions of whether the republican-led house will continue to sign off on support for ukraine as the war enters year two. so here to discuss with me is leon caldwell, she's an anchor for washington post live and coauthor if its morning newsletter the earlier 202. leigh ann, greetings to you. okay, can we just be very clear. this is a very small minority leveling these criticisms. but they are some of the loudest voices in this republican led house. so what you make of that? >> hey, simone. they are a small minority.

but they also have power. we saw that power over the same members were the ones who tried to withhold the speakership for kevin mccarthy. and we saw how that all played out for 15 rounds of voting. so for over an all support for ukraine as far as monies concerned is not necessarily in doubt, but there is a lot of but there, there will likely be more aid at some point. but it's going to be much more difficult to pass. there's going to be demands on this money. there's going to be demands on transparency for this money, and who else knows what these republicans are going to ask for in order for this money to be passed. now, president biden is saying that despite this vocal minority, that the united states is on ukraine side. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell travel to the munich conference this week alongside senate majority leader chuck schumer with the same message. trying to give reassurance to not only ukraine, but to nato as well.

that the united states is still supportive and going to continue to support them. with these very, very vocal voices, it's a message that is really hard, especially since more funding has not come up since republicans are in the majority. >> so leanne, i think this is very important. you know mitch mcconnell, there was lindsey graham, mike turner, all sounding the same message of alarm if you will, that -- supporting ukraine. and there has been a lot of talk about this republican lead house and what kind of support, even if they will keep up for ukraine as you mentioned. so is the big picture when it comes to how house republicans feel about these aid packages? is there anything that they will -- >> let's take a step back. before the republicans took control of the house, in december, what the congress did when democrats were in control is they upset a package from what the administration

originally asked for from 37 billion dollars to 45 billion dollars, in large part to ensure that this aid package would extend further. so that it wouldn't be so necessary as soon as republicans took control to start discussing this again. so we are not yet at an inflection point where aid is necessary. but that is going to come. people say that this aid will prompt a new aid package will come, probably around september. that's also when government funding is also do. that could also be around when the death limit needs to be discussed and voted on as well. so that's why i'm bringing all these things because there's a lot of other contexts here, and other pressure points in negotiations. so some of these far-right republicans, they just don't want to find anything else for ukraine. that's people like marjorie taylor greene, andy biggs, and a few others.

and then there's others who are just calling for some guardrails around this money. some transparency, for example representative thomas -- he wants a vote. stand-alone vote on ukraine aid. he doesn't want it tied to any other big government funding bills. but these are a lot of competing demands and ultimately mccarthy is gonna have to decide, is he willing to pass ukraine aid with a majority of democratic's if he can't get the support of a majority of -- simone. >> you know, the end, this is why we have to read your newsletter every morning. i talked about some of the criticism that we saw on social media from some of these far-right members of congress. i want you to listen to colorado congressman jason crow. he's a member of the house intelligence committee and he was speaking to my colleague

andrea mitchell about the republican backlash to president biden's trip. >> it's really not even worth my brain space to spend time responding to fools. these people know nothing about national security informed policy, they don't understand that it's in our strategic interests and security interests and the american peoples interest to have a stable prosperous and free europe in a free world. that's what this fight is about. >> congressman verbally rolling his eyes, how are most democrats huddling this new outrage of fuel from the front right? >> there hasn't been a lot of response to it. a lot of these democrats, even republicans say that this vocal far-right they get too much attention. they don't have that much power in congress. well, that's partially true but when such a slim majority when mccarthy can only lose four votes in order to pass anything, they know that their power matters and that their voice does matter, but this aspect of

the party has come a long way from ronald reagan, and this is the tension that the party is currently in, and it's going to be really interesting how this bubbles up to the presidential campaign as well. we're also starting to see donald trump has been a republican in the race for president is often critical of this ukraine nate. how is ron desantis and the other presidential republican candidates going to handle this at a time when the primary starts to pick up at a time when congress needs to fund more morning for ukraine? >> leigh ann caldwell, thank you very much. coming up, speaking of run desantis, has left his neck of the woods to sell himself as a long order candidate. but in the presidential race he has not jumped into yet. our panel has to decide that about ron desantis when the 11th hour continues.

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>> florida governor ron desantis visited staten island, new york this morning as part of a tour reportedly meant to present himself as a potential law and order candidate. here's some of what he told the group of law enforcement officials.

>> why is crime a big issue in new york, or chicago, or all these other places? the reason why you have what you have been some of these other jurisdictions is because they're putting woke ideology ahead of your safety. so what have we done in florida? when they were talking about defunding police and slashing budgets, we said, not on my watch. >> for those of you who might be wondering why desantis chose staten island it's the only -- republic lee leading burrow new york city. let's discuss with basil cycle, democratic strategist and former executive director of the new york state democratic party. and former political strategist shermichael singleton. he's worked on three republican presidential campaigns and hosts serious fm's urban view. as stephanie ruhle's likes to say, for hex sake, we new york's police budget is over $5 million. so why did you go there? >> i believe since new york's, since the great depression what's the strategy coming to new york? staten island is the most conservative borough, it has

the most police officers and firefighters living within that borough and it's not lost on me that he was in the same borough which a police officer killed eric garner. so the issue here that i think is the reason he comes to new york's because he wants to send the message to two constituencies. one potential voters to say and other parts of the country that he's willing to come to big back liberal new york and sinema's edge to the rest of the country he's willing to take on the woke liberals on the left. the second messages directed with that same message to donors. let's not forget, you need a lot of money to run for president of the united states. new york doesn't necessarily -- it will help them raise money. so coming into new york i think has some benefits for him but the message that he's sending

for the rest of the state and the city will fall on deaf ears. >> you know, shermichael, ron desantis who likes to position himself as anti woke. what does that mean exactly? >> it's the idea that certain opinions are certain cultural political topics have gone too far -- >> which ones? >> any that the claim. you will see people like bill maher, who consider themselves to be a bit democrat, often talks about this in his show, i know some people may differ from that. from a republican perspective he seems to stand on cultural issues about gender, about religion, about issues that are not open enough on outspoken enough on your political position without being ostracized or outcast. and on the republican camp, that's something that registers very well. >> desantis has said that he has not announced a presidential campaign. but it doesn't look like a campaign stop to me. >> you and i have done this for three presidential campaigns, we both worked for presidents, we know why he's doing this. why announce when at this point, he's under trump, he is the guy to really beat, although trump is still the presumptive person at this point and time.

he is, but i think simone if i'm going to advise desantis, i need to see does this message -- >> you and i have done this for three presidential campaigns, we both worked for presidents, we know why he's doing this. why announce when at this point, he's under trump, he is the guy to really beat, although trump is still the presumptive person at this point and time. he is, but i think simone if i'm going to advise desantis, i need to see does this message have residents outside of the state, but you and i were talking about on break? i need to see, can i articulate a strong enough message to potential donors as basil pointed, out that this is someone that is palatable with those suburban voters that we know republicans have lost because of trump. can they win them back? that's the only way they can mathematically regain any age, potentially two out-see biden. and i think it will be a tough mountain to climb, but to the point that you raised, simone, it was really, really important. can ron desantis distortion self enough from trump? i don't think he can.

he's like a second version of trump. and i don't think that people necessarily want. that but let's see how this works out. >> basil, i hear you. desantis has leaned very hard into the culture wars. i have noted that i think the culture wars have been the playbook for the modern-day republican party apparatus for a while now. and that might get him traction in the primary. but they think it's a winning message in the general election that is not [inaudible] ? >> i think first of all the primaries important because that's where donald trump needs to win to get in the race. because he doesn't necessarily want to go up against ronda sentence to make it a one-on-one. i can imagine. can it work? it has worked. to be clear, from state to state, i think that message can resonate. if it's tied to other things. listen, when we talk about the attack against eight -- african american studies, the anti woke movement.

recognize that there were more than three 400 bills across the country that had the same goal. -- out of the curriculum. so if you ask me does it have residents? it has resonance because we can see its impact in state houses across the country and in school districts across the country. so the concern that i have is that even if what -- even if the voters of florida are reelected and essentially reward him for the positions he has sought, democrats have to create a beach haven, so many parts of the country have to do it, to prevent this in mindset from sinking in. within this policy making. that's a concern that i have at this point. that will gain some traction. >> you said a lot there. sir. basil, this honestly just made me think of -- dewey have that marjorie taylor greene tweet from today? she earlier today, she tweeted in favor of a, quote, national divorce between red and blue states. as an actual member of congress calling for the dissolution of the republic.

when i think about what you just said about what's happening across the country, how democrats are not reacting, then we get this from marjorie taylor greene. how are you supposed to react to things like this? >> i will tell you the same thing as i say all the, time is that we have to be a culture of civic engagement as early as k-12 education because we have to have different people elected office. the problem -- is we can talk about gerrymandering and the impact of that overtime, which gets you to marjorie taylor greene. but the effect is, if there's no alternative, if we don't contest in every single district, in every single race across the country, a lot of these folks will slip into office. considering the fact that you have election deniers now running republican parties and

states. so the protection against that kind of pervasive mindset and policymaking is you can test in every race and you create a culture of civic engagement which prevents people from being civic cynical. and that's what i spend my whole career fighting for, and i know you do the same. we have to keep up that fight. >> keep up the fight. we'll have to leave it, they're basil, sure michael, thank you both very, very much. coming up, president biden's war zone trip is one for the history books. but you americans understand the importance of a war not on our soil? the historian michael beschloss helps us understand what's at stake when the 11th hour continues.

>> just a few hours ago, president biden arrived in warsaw, poland where he's expected to deliver a speech on the war in ukraine. the most important audience, however, may actually be home or still some americans remain unconvinced but the worse importance. with me to discuss the celebrated author and presidential historian michael beschloss, his latest work on a bookshelf full of works is presidents of war. michael, i think it's safe to say that biden shows his deep commitment to ukraine and further ties the war to his presidency. can you tell us more about the historic context of this visit? >> i think it sure does. and one thing that that's seen

today made me think of was the summer of 1963, i don't remember it personally, but historically i do when john kennedy went to berlin and stood very near the berlin wall which had gone up two years earlier and gave the famous speech saying [speaking non-english] i'm a berlin are saying the united states would commit itself to the defense of berlin. there were death threats, there were eastman cars that could've shot at him. in an or been car near the berlin wall, who would've thought that day that kennedy would turn out to be safer in berlin than he did to be in dallas later that year and an open car. but the reason why kennedy was there was two. things number one, make sure berlin and berliners knew that we were behind them in the west. and number two, to show americans how important this was to us. so in the spirit of that, what

joe biden did today was to say, our commitment to ukraine is so important that i'm going to risk my life getting on a train for ten hours going to kyiv, in a situation that cannot be controlled, open air with crowds because i think it's that important. he's trying to do impress ukrainians, he's also trying to impress americans. >> michael, i can honestly hear you tell me the stories of history all day long. there is recent polling from the ap, it actually shows that fewer americans support military aid for the ukraine. now than they did in may. it makes me wonder, is the biden administration effectively conveying the meaning of this war and it's significance to folks here at home? and do you think that americans understand its importance? >> i think so far so good. but i think you're absolutely right, simone. you come from nebraska, i come from illinois, especially in the midwest, traditionally the midwest is the most resistant to committing american forces to a distant country that doesn't seem to be directly related to our defense. in spite of that, joe biden

during the last year has done a pretty good job of making americans feel we need to support this democracy, have to establish the rule that a country like russia can just grab its neighbor and conquer it because it feels like it. otherwise it would be chaos all over the world. but americans, as you and i would know especially from the midwest, they don't have a lot of staying power on wars. they tried against the korean war very quickly after 1950. vietnam war took a little longer for that to happen. the persian gulf war which maybe is somewhat parallel to this, george h. w. bush 1990, 1991, was trying to get kuwait back from being conquered by saddam hussein. they plan that war for six weeks because bush was convinced that if it was a longer war, americans would begin to question why we were there. >> michael bashful, as i really appreciate you. before we go this weekend -- >> likewise. >> jimmy carter has entered hospice care. what do you think americans should keep in mind tonight about jimmy carter? >> that sometimes when you see a president realtime, he looks very different decades later. we now see it because we have

hindsight of almost 40 years plus. jimmy carter presence was a -- begin to question why we were there. >> michael bashful, as i really appreciate you. before we go this weekend -- >> likewise. >> jimmy carter has entered hospice care. what do you think americans should keep in mind tonight about jimmy carter? >> that sometimes when you see a president realtime, he looks very different decades later. we now see it because we have hindsight of almost 40 years plus. jimmy carter presence was a decent kind of honest man who wanted a compassionate country. that seems a lot more outstanding and unusual in 2023 and may obstruct people in 1981. and the other thing is, you are nice someone we're talking about ukraine tonight. jimmy carter said military

powers important to the united states, but just as important is our standing as a democracy. and our willingness to help other democracies and make sure that everyone on earth has human rights. that was very popular when carter lost in 1980. now it's a clarion call. >> absolutely. michael beschloss, we appreciate you your time. thank you for staying up with. us >> your very welcome. >> jimmy carter service to the country became long before he ran for the white house. and the 11th hour continues.

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the last thing before we go tonight, jimmy carter to the rescue. it's still presidents'day for another few minutes, so i wanted to take the time to honor our oldest living president. as we mentioned, this weekend we learned that the 98 year old has opted to receive hospice

care at his home in plains georgia after a series of hospital stays. the naval academy -- presidents day holiday by renaming a building after the 39th president, naval academy graduate. the secretary of the navy said there was no one more worthy, but reminded me of this story from carter's time in the navy. in 1952, a nuclear reactor in canada was melting down. and lieutenant jimmy carter came to the rescue. at the time, he was one of the few people on the planet authorized to go inside a nuclear reactor. he wrote about suiting up and descending into the reactor when it was his turn. the washington post points out in one minute and 29 seconds,, carter had absorbed the maximum amount of radiation human can withstand an a year. the mission was successful. the damaged core was removed. jimmy carter's bravery and service to take us off the air this presidents'day. and on that note, i wish you a good night, remember, you can watch my show, simon, every weekend at 4 pm eastern, right here on msnbc.